Regardless of one's personal feelings toward this figure, the transcendent nature of the man is indeed remarkable.

"First, while a number
of Arab governments took an anti-Hezbollah position
(even publicly) their public had significantly
improved its views of Shiite Hezbollah, even as some
of the discourse continued to be sectarian. Surprisingly,
this was even more so in the 2008 poll. When
asked to identify the leader they admire most (in an
open-ended question), the number one answer overall,
(and especially in predominantly Sunni countries such